Taylor looked up to see the autumn sun sparking through the treetops. The light streamed through the lower leaves and fell into her lap.
“Taylor! You ready for the finals?” a voice yelled from across the field, causing Taylor to flinch. Looks like relaxing time was over; it was time to get serious. Her team was at the finals of the National Soccer Tournament, and the time had come to wrap up the contest.
Taylor jogged over to the others just in time to hear Ashleigh, her best friend, say, “Look, the other semi-final is over!” Taylor lifted an eyebrow as she looked over. She used her analytical eyes to scan the situation. The winning team was good, but their passes were sloppy and it was clear that they didn’t trust each other with the ball. They would rather do everything on their own. The key to soccer was working as a team. Taylor also saw that the team was mostly built up of tall players with muscles and firm stances. Looks like her team had an advantage. Although being strong would make for strong kicks, they weren’t very quick. Taylor’s team could easily move faster and with more agility.
She started relaying this information to her team as they all looked towards their student captain for some tips. They all trusted her more than anyone to lead them to victory.
“... and the other team will hopefully wear down pretty quickly,” she finished saying. “Got that?” Taylor inquired her teammates and friends. Everyone nodded their heads to acknowledge that they heard and understood.
“Ok, hands in everyone!” Taylor placed her hand in front of her, palm down as the others slowly stacked their hands on top.
“One, two, three, GO TEAM FOXTROT!” the team chorused.
The game started with a bang, literally. The referee had forgotten his whistle at home so instead he whacked the biggest stick he could find against the ground. Taylor winced as the stick touched the ground but immediately shook herself out of the daze. She had to concentrate. Her entire team was counting on her quick reaction and skill. She scaled around the outer edge of the field, tracking the ball with her eyes. She saw an opening in the player’s guarding and swooped in, swiping the ball from under the large girl. She started dribbling down the court and faked to the left before passing to Lucy, a small, mousy girl on her team. Lucy immediately started running down the field with the ball in tow and then passed the ball back to her when she got down the field. Taylor stopped the ball and spun around on her heel before launching the ball towards the goal. Unfortunately, the other team’s goalie was a large girl with a strong base. Taylor aimed for a tiny space that she probably wouldn’t be able to guard because of her side, a tiny opening near the ground on her left. As predicted, the girl reached towards the ball but couldn’t wrap her hands around it. The ball slammed into the goal hard.
“Goal!” the referee shouted.

“Ok girls, time to go!” Ms. Matthews shouted to the team.
The game was over and it was time to go home. Team Foxtrot had been fist bumping and high fiving for over ten minutes now, celebrating their victory at Nationals for California Girls Soccer. Taylor looked around for Ashleigh but didn’t see her anywhere.
“Hey guys? Have you seen Ashleigh?” Taylor spoke to her team.
“Nope, not since the game,” Skylar responded quickly.
“Hmm… You guys go on, I’m gonna go find her,” Taylor replied.
“We can come too,” Lucy said while putting her retainer back in her mouth. Taylor looked around to see all her friends nodding. Her team really did care about each other.
“Ok, let’s go,” Taylor said before jogging forward and motioning her team to follow. “She can’t be far, she must be somewhere near the field.” The girls all split up and started looking around in the sidelines.
“Please stop! What have I done to you?” Taylor heard a voice. A voice that she could never forget. It sounded like something bad was happening. Suddenly a scream filled the air.
“Ashleigh!” Taylor yelled before sprinting toward the scream. She neared the end of the bleachers and turned the corner. There, lying down, clutching her face, a blonde girl sat curled up in a ball, crying.
“Ashleigh!” Taylor repeated before swooping down beside her friend not even thinking about what might have caused this. Of course she regretted this after taking a blow to the cheek.
“Ahhh!” Taylor screamed before the force of the punch pushed her to the ground. She looked up to see the large goalie girl standing above her.
“What was that for!?” Taylor yelled, clutching her cheek in pain. The girl looked over her once and sneered.
“That’s for your dirty playing, you little cheater,” she told Taylor with a glare, permanently etched onto her face.
“What?! I didn’t cheat! What are you talking about? What did Ashleigh ever do to you?” I fired back, remembering what had brought me here. I turned to look at Ashleigh who lay shivering at my feet. “And what did you do to her?” I added, worried.
“Ha! That ‘thing’ didn’t even try to fight back,” she said pointing at the shaking lump that was Ashleigh. My best friend would never lay a finger on even the meanest of people. Lucky for her, I would. I drew up to my feet and walked towards the mean girl that towered above me. In my side vision, I could see my other team members all walking towards the scene but I kept my attention to the girl.
“What’s your name?” I asked the girl calmly. All my other friends exchanged looks of worry. They all knew that when Taylor became calm in this sort of a situation, she was about to explode with anger.
“Ha! Wouldn’t you want to know! My name is Katherine Fainer,” she said with the first decent look on her face that Taylor had seen.
“Ok, well Katherine Fainer, you should know that NO ONE hurts my friends and gets away with it,” she said before stepping up and throwing a powerful punch at Katherine.
“Ha! Take that yo--” Taylor was cut off by her punch being perfectly blocked by Katherine.
“What?” Taylor had time to say before being flipped onto her back, hard. She cried out in agony from being tossed to the ground. Many gasps were heard from the crowd that had formed, all thinking the same thing, that Taylor WAS NOT beaten, at anything! Yet here she was lying on the floor.
Taylor looked up to see that Katherine was staring down at her with a smug expression on her face. “Not as tough as you thought, huh?” she smirked, agitating Taylor more and more by the second. Taylor looked up, about to say something but immediately looked down again. She had been beaten. She had never been beaten at anything! Ever! She looked up to the bully once again before surprising everyone watching, including herself and the bully. She got up and ran. As far as she could. Destination? She didn’t have one, just away. The further she went, the worse she felt. Someone had defeated her, her strength, her glow, her power, it all just disappeared the further she ran.

“What just happened?” Lucy asked as the team got into Ms. Matthew’s sand colored mini van.
“I’m not really sure,” Ashleigh said, looking confused. “Taylor doesn’t run from anyone, and Taylor DOESN’T lose.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She was just in a fight, right?” Lela, another girl on the team said, but it seemed like she was just trying to assure herself.
“Um, I’m gonna go talk to her after we get back,” Ashleigh said. “I feel like this is all my fault. I just had to go over to the bleachers to get my water bottle and say hi to that girl, what’s her face, right, Katherine,” Ashleigh berated herself.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself darling!” Piper said helpfully. Piper was an extremely fashion forward girl who designed the uniforms for the team. “This was not your fault, but I do think that it would be a good idea to check on Taylor,” she said in a calming voice.
“Ok, I’m going to get going. Thanks Piper, I really needed that,” Ashleigh responded before taking off in the direction of Ashleigh’s house.

What happened? I was beaten! This is all wrong. Taylor sat in her room staring at a wall. She had been staring at the wall for over an hour now. She knew it was pointless and that normally she had the attention span of a goldfish, but something inside her had snapped, and she wasn’t herself, not in the slightest. She was quite distraught about being beaten at something, but it was something much bigger gnawing at her heart. She had failed to protect a friend. Her friends meant everything to her and she had let one of them get hurt and had run away, no less. She felt like a failure, and she didn’t like that feeling. It stung her like a thousand needles constantly poking her from all directions.
Taylor was so involved in her thoughts that she didn’t even hear the doorbell ring. Footsteps sounded as her mother opened the door.
“Hi Mrs. Hart, could I talk to Taylor?” Ashleigh’s voice sounded from outside the door frame. Taylor began to panic. She couldn’t face Ashleigh! Especially after just letting her down so badly. Ashleigh was probably extremely mad or disappointed in her for not getting rid of the bully and running away. She heard her mom reply and start walking towards Taylor’s room. The door slowly creaked open and Taylor’s mom peeked her head inside.
“Tay, Ashleigh’s here to see you,” she said using her special nickname for Taylor.
“I’m really busy right now,” Taylor pretended to bustle around as if nothing was wrong. “Tell her to stop by later.”
“Um, ok?” Taylor’s mom sounded, obviously not convinced. Once again, footsteps sounded down the hall as Mrs. Hart returned to her daughter’s waiting friend.
“Sorry to tell you Ashleigh, but Taylor’s a bit busy right now, I’m sure you’ll be able to talk to her at school tomorrow though.”
“Um, ok, thanks Mrs. Hart,” Ashleigh said partially confused and partially hurt. What if Taylor was mad at her for getting into this situation? She was also concerned about her friend. Taylor never said no to her, even when she was “a bit busy.” It all seemed wrong.
“It’s okay, I’ll see her tomorrow and everything will be fine,” she said aloud. It wasn’t.

“Sup, Tay!” Ashleigh greeted her best friend in the hallway. Taylor responded by looking down and rushing away like a surprised mouse. Ashleigh stood there jaw dropped, mouth hanging open. Not only did Taylor run away again, she also completely ignored Ashleigh! What was going on?
“Um, ok?” Ash said quietly. She headed towards the soccer field, still confused with her previous conversation. She turned the corner to see Lucy running up to her.
“Ash! Help!” she said, clearly out of breath and in an alarming tone.
“What’s wrong Lucy?” Ashleigh asked with concern, catching onto Lucy’s tone.
“It’s that girl again, Katherine! She’s back! I came as fast as I could, we need Taylor!” Lucy said in a hurry.
“Well, she’s not coming… I think?” Ash questioned before shaking her head. “Never mind, let’s go!” The two girls raced down the hall and burst through the front door. They turned the corner of the school to get to the soccer field and saw… Katherine, beating up Lela who seemed to be standing over someone, Skylar.
“OH MY GOD!” Ashleigh yelled before sprinting to Lela’s side. When she looked down, she saw that Skylar seemed to be unconscious. “What did you do?!” Ashleigh screamed at Katherine before remembering that this girl had even beat Taylor. Her next words showed her fear of the large bully, “Um, I-I mean, why d-did you do it?” her voice shrinked with each word.
“HA! You idiots are so weak! It was, like, three against one and I still won.” Katherine bragged.
“Why are you here?” Lela said, tears streaming down her face. She was clutching her leg in pain. “Probably where she was been hit!” Ashleigh thought.
“Oh, my team came here because your principal wanted to congratulate us and make sure we didn’t feel bad or whatever that trash was. I mean, there was clearly something wrong with the referee! I can’t believe he didn’t see you chickens cheating. Well, I gotta go play at Wilson Park today. We get to skip class and make our opponents cry! So exciting!” Katherine said with glee. She then turned around and stomped off, flattening the grass beneath her. All the girls looked to the place she had been standing last with their mouths partially open and with wide eyes.

At lunch, the girls all headed toward their normal table after coming back from the nurse’s office. Well, all except one. Taylor hadn’t been spotted by anyone since morning. Everyone agreed that she needed some space, but Ashleigh knew that either Taylor was coming back now, or she was never coming back and after what had happened earlier, she knew that she and her friends needed her. Ashleigh knew what she had to do, even if it meant getting in trouble.
“Guys, I’m gonna go to the library to return a book. I’ll catch you later!” Ashleigh lied. She got up from her spot after getting plenty of goodbyes from her teammates before heading out of the cafeteria. She figured that since Taylor was acting the exact opposite of herself she would just go to the one place that regular Taylor was literally scared of. “So many books! It hurts my eyes!” she would say, cracking up more than a few classmates near her. Luckily, Ashleigh had been right, in the corner sat Taylor, nose deep in one of the thickest books Ashleigh had ever seen. In other words, something that Taylor would never read. Ashleigh walked up to Taylor, taking her place next to her. Ashleigh knew that what she was about to suggest was going to break at least 10 school policies, but she also knew that if she ever wanted to see Taylor again, she had do it.
Taylor held her breath. She wasn’t actually reading the book so she saw Ashleigh enter the library with a determined look on her face. Looks like she was going to be lectured now. Ashleigh walked over and stood behind Taylor as she pretended to read her book.
“Taylor, are you feeling okay, and don’t you DARE say that you are ‘cause I know you aren’t,” Ashleigh said confidently with a stern voice.
Taylor looked up at her before squeaking, “I’m sorry,” in an almost inaudible voice.
“What? Why are you sorry, I’m sorry! I was so stupid! I literally ran into that girl and didn’t think about how she might be mad at us for beating her with our sweet moves. I’m really sorry!” Ashleigh blurted out in one breath.
“Wait, you’re not mad at me for letting you down?” Taylor asked disbelievingly.
“Of course not, you know why? ‘Cause you didn’t let me down and you never will,” Ashleigh told Taylor. “And now, you are going to come with me to give that girl a piece of my mind!”
“Who? Katherine? I’m not coming. I don’t want to get in trouble or anything and I don’t think I can beat her either,” Taylor said. Ashleigh’s jaw was agape as she glared down at her friend. This was NOT Taylor talking. No way, Jose. Taylor never said no to standing up to someone who was being a completely idiot. In fact, she usually enjoyed setting that kind of person straight with her extreme knowledge of “awesomeness” as she put it.
“That’s it, you’re coming with me even if I drag you there. Look, this isn’t you. I know it, you know it, and everyone else know’s it. You didn’t let us down earlier, you’re letting us down now by not being with us when we need you. Katherine literally just beat up Lela and Skylar and you weren’t there! That was letting us down. The way to make it up to us is to teach that girl a lesson! Now come ON!” Ashleigh lectured Taylor before tugging on her arm as hard as she could.
Taylor stumbled out of her chair with wide eyes with her giant book falling to floor with a loud thump beside her. Katherine did WHAT! She could have easily fought off Ashleigh, but she knew that not only was Taylor completely right, but she also realized how badly Katherine needed a pounding to the skull. If she messes with my friends, she messes with me! Maybe Taylor could knock some sense into her by showing her that even though she had lost once, she was coming back with twice the fury.
“You’re right Ashleigh! Let’s get ‘em!” Taylor said, a smirk filling her face as she imagined slugging Katherine in the face.
“NOW she’s back!” Ashleigh said excitedly.
The two girls walked down the school hallway blending in perfectly with the rowdy students. They were seen together often so no one gave them any suspicious looks. The team that Katherine was on was playing a game down at Wilson Park during lunch and fifth period today and luckily, Wilson Park happened to be just down the block from Taylor and Ashleigh’s school. They approached the fence near the corner of the school, the perfect place to sneak out because no one hung out there. Both girls slipped over the fence one at a time with Taylor in the lead. As soon as they were out, they started running, out of fear of being caught. They had to be back before fifth period or there would be a campus wide search for them, which would bring a lot of attention to where they went.
Wilson Park spread out beneath them and they could see the playing field where there were two colors present, green and blue, the colors of the opposing teams. Ashleigh’s vision was straying toward the game score which was 2-1. She had no idea which team was winning. Taylor, on the other hand, had been looking for someone. Her vision tunneled as she saw the girl who had crushed her spirit. To make matters even worse, Katherine was picking on some kid from the other team. This only infuriated Taylor even more. Katherine drew back her hand, about to throw a punch at the kid standing in front of her when something held back her raised fist. she turned back to see girl with chocolate brown hair with blonde highlights. She seemed vaguely familiar. Not because of her hair, but because of her midnight black eyes that burned a hole into whatever she looked at. Then it hit her, this was the girl who had tried to rescue her friend but ended up running away instead.
“What do you want?” Katherine asked roughly.
“I want to give you what you deserve,” Taylor said calmly before punching Katherine right in the face. The poor kid behind her ran off looking terrified. Katherine fell to the ground in pain.
“That’s how you want it, fine!” she replied. She stood up and dusted herself off before giving a punch of her own. Her blow was surprisingly blocked by Taylor, as she remembered was her name.
             “Yeah, that is how I want it,” Taylor said and kicked Katherine in the stomach, catching her by surprise. Katherine backed into the side of a playground before tripping over the edge. Taylor took this to her advantage and sent a crushing blow to Katherine’s shoulder. The fire of rage danced in her eyes.
“That’s what you deserve. Do you get it now? You, DO NOT pick on my friends!” Taylor yelled into Katherine’s face. Katherine’s eyes showed fear, as did her body language. She laid curled up as a ball on the floor aching all over. She had learned her lesson with this one. She wasn’t going to cross her path ever again.
“A person’s true identity is shown in defeat, not victory. And you showed your true colors today,” Taylor concluded. Then she looked to Ashleigh.
“We’d better get back,” she said reluctantly. She wanted to stay so that she could drum it into Katherine’s head that it was not right to pick on people who you are jealous of. Wow, she thought, my life had turned into a fairytale with a bunch of over the top morals and lessons! She turned on her heel and dragged Ashleigh with her, leaving Katherine with a lot to think about.

“... and so, I’m sorry for not being myself when you needed me. I should have pushed my own problems back. I’m so glad I have friends like you,” Taylor wrapped up. She was talking to her soccer team after coming back from Wilson Park.
“Don’t worry about it Tay! I’m just glad that you’re back!” Lucy squeaked out. Many nods signified agreement in Lucy’s statement.
“Thanks guys! Now let’s get going, we’re playing against Sunnyside Middle School today! One, two, three, GO TEAM FOXTROT!” the girls yelled out.